Recycling Plastic Marine Litter
[Pages:36]Recycling Plastic Marine Litter
N O W P A P
Northwest Pacific Action Plan
October 2007
Prepared in 2007 by the Special Monitoring and Coastal Environmental Assessment Regional Activity Centre
of the Northwest Pacific Action Plan (NOWPAP CEARAC)
Established at the Northwest Pacific Region Environmental Cooperation Center (NPEC) 5-5 Tower111 6th floor, Ushijimashin-machi, Toyama City, Toyama 930-0856 JAPAN TEL: +81-76-445-1571 FAX: +81-76-445-1581 Website: E-mail: webmaster@cearac.
Acknowledgments
This booklet was prepared by NOWPAP CEARAC within the framework of the Marine Litter Activity (MALITA) project, which was approved by the 10th NOWPAP Intergovernmental Meeting in November 2005. This booklet is based on "Research Report of Marine Litter Recyclability 2007" published by NPEC in 2007, which is supported by the Nippon Foundation.
For bibliographical purpose, this document may be cited as: NOWPAP CEARAC 2007: Recycling Plastic Marine Litter.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
1. Introduction ...................................................................................... 1 2. Basic knowledge of plastics ............................................................. 2
2.1 Production process of plastics .................................................. 2 2.2 Types and characteristics of plastics ......................................... 3 3. Plastic recycling technologies .......................................................... 5 3.1 Material recycling....................................................................... 7 3.2 Chemical recycling................................................................... 13 3.3 Thermal recycling..................................................................... 27 4. Issues and suggestions on recycling plastic marine litter.............. 32
1. Introduction
Marine litter is a serious global problem, and is known to have significant environmental, economic, health and aesthetic impacts. In many cases, plastics are one of the most abundant components of marine litter, mainly due to its very slow rate of degradation and ever-increasing uses in our society. Figure 1 summarizes the findings of the marine litter survey conducted along the Japanese coast of the NOWPAP region in 2004.
Cloth 0.2%
Paper 0.3%
Expanded polystyrene
18.0%
Glass/ceramic 2.8%
Metal 0.6%
Other 1.0%
Rubber 0.3%
Plastics 76.8%
Figure 1 Composition of marine litter along the coast of Japan in 2004
Source: NPEC (2006); Report on the marine litter survey of the NOWPAP coastal area in 2004
The figure shows that almost 80% of the marine litter found was comprised of plastic products, and if we include expanded polystyrene, the proportion of plastic products would be almost 95%.
Although various countermeasures are now being implemented to remove plastic litter from the sea coast, such as beach clean-up activities, installation of marine litter containment booms and so on, significant problems still persist in treating/disposing of the collected litter. Common approaches include landfill and incineration, but these methods are not always ideal solutions due to limited landfill space and pollution risks.
One possible solution to the treatment of plastic marine litter is to apply the technologies of plastic recycling, which is now commonly employed to treat industrial and domestic waste plastics. For example, marine waste plastics can be recycled into plastic
raw material, fuel oil, chemical feedstock and other products (see Chapter 3). This booklet has been prepared, in recognition of the benefits of plastic waste recycling,
to introduce the existing and developing plastic recycling technologies with the potential application for managing plastic marine litter. The booklet also describes some issues involved in recycling plastic marine litter, with some suggestions (see Chapter 4).
2. Basic knowledge of plastics
2.1 Production process of plastics Although many types of plastic are currently manufactured for a variety of purposes, the
raw material of these plastics is mainly derived from petroleum products, such as naphtha, which are extracted from crude-oil distillation.
When naphtha is thermally decomposed, simple molecules (monomers) such as ethylene, propylene, butane/butylenes and aromatics can be extracted. The raw materials of plastics are made when these monomers are chemically bonded into larger molecules called polymers (polymerization). Different types of plastics can be made by altering the combination of these monomers. Figure 2 shows an example of polymerization of ethylene into polyethylene.
Figure 2 Polymerization of ethylene into polyethylene Since these polymers are in powder or lump form, they are usually processed into pellets for easier handling. The final plastic product is then manufactured by processing (e.g. molding) the plastic pellets into various shapes and forms.
2.2 Types and characteristics of plastics
Plastics can be broadly classified into two groups: thermoplastics and thermosetting plastics. Thermoplastics can be repeatedly softened by heating and hardened by cooling, like candle wax. For this reason, thermoplastics can be remolded and reused almost indefinitely. Many types of thermoplastic products are manufactured to suit a wide range of purposes, such as for packaging, food containers and household products. More heat-resistant and durable thermoplastics are used in machines, automobiles and electrical goods.
Conversely, thermosetting plastics harden permanently after being heated. They are mainly used for products that require high heat resistance, because these plastics can be heated to high temperatures without melting. Table 1 shows some of the common thermoplastics and thermosetting plastics, and their main uses.
Table 1 Thermoplastics and thermosetting plastics and their main uses
Plastic type
Abbreviation
Main uses
Polyethylene
PE
Packaging, agricultural film,
construction sheeting
Polypropylene
PP
Bathroom products, packing string
Polystyrene
PS
Office appliances, CD cases
Expanded polystyrene
EPS
Fish boxes, food trays, packaging
Acrylonitrile-styrene (AS)
SAN
Tableware, lighters
resin
Acrylonitrile butadiene
ABS
Travel trunks, furniture, automobiles
Thermoplastics
styrene (ABS) resin
Polyvinyl chloride
PVC
Water pipes, hoses, agricultural film
Polyvinylidene chloride
PVDC
Cling film, ham casing, artificial turf
Methacrylic resin
PMMA
Headlight lenses, windshields, contact
lens
Methacrylic styrene resin
MS
Lenses, light covers, packaging
Polymethylpentene
PMP
Microwave tableware, film packaging
Polyamide (nylon)
PA
Fasteners, cogs, automobile parts
Polycarbonate
PC
Lunch boxes, CDs, driers, bottles
Acetal resin
POM
Fasteners, automobile parts
Polyethylene terephthalate
PET
PET bottles, VTR tapes, egg boxes
Phenol resin
PF
Printed circuit boards, pan handles
Thermosetting plastics
Melamine resin
MF
Tableware, laminates, paint
Urea resin
UF
Buttons, caps, electrical products
Unsaturated polyester
UP
Bathtubs, helmets, fishing rods
resin
Epoxy resin
EP
Electrical products, paints, adhesives
Polyurethane
PUR
Cushions, mattresses, heat insulation
Source: Plastic Waste Management Institute (2004); An Introduction to Plastic Recycling
3. Plastic recycling technologies
Plastic recycling technologies can be typically classified into three methods: material recycling (or mechanical recycling), chemical recycling (or feedstock recycling) and thermal recycling (or energy recovery)1. General descriptions of the three recycling methods are provided in the following sections, and specific examples of each are given. Table 2 shows the recycling examples introduced in this Booklet.
Table 2 Types of recycling examples introduced in the Booklet
No.
Recycling products
Recycled products
Material recycling
1 Industrial PE and PP waste plastics
Plastic pellets (used to produce other
plastic products)
2 Waste fishing nets
Plastic pellets
3 Waste EPS floats
Polystyrene ingots (used to produce
other plastic products)
4 Waste ABS floats
New ABS floats
Chemical recycling
5 Waste EPS products
Polystyrene pellets (new EPS products)
6 Waste PE and PP products
Aromatics (raw material for chemical
and medical products) and lower olefin
(raw material of plastics)
7 Waste polyester products
Dimethyl terephthalate and ethylene
glycol (raw material for plastics)
8 Tolylene diisocyanate (TDI) residues Toluenediamine (raw material for TDI)
(TDI: raw material of polyurethane)
9 Domestic waste plastics
Fuel oil
10 Waste PE, PP, PS plastics
Fuel oil
11 Low-grade oil produced from waste High-grade oil
plastic recycling
12 Domestic and industrial waste plastics Reducing agent of blast furnaces
13 Waste vinyl chloride products
Hydrocarbons (reducing agents for blast
furnaces), hydrogen chloride (used by
1 These terms (material recycling, chemical recycling and thermal recycling) will be used in this booklet, although other terms might be used elsewhere.
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